Scripture: "All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:..." Deuteronomy 28:2 NIV "However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:..." Deuteronomy 28:15 NIV "Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them..." Matthew 5:1,2 NIV "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." Matthew 7:28 NIV Application: God has given us the best, most reliable, and most detailed, crossed-referenced, crossed-checked history book that ever has or will exist. Reading only the parts of the Bible we like is like reading just half of a historical record. Half history is a half truth. A half truth is, in effect, a lie. Many of us confess only the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14, and made it a conscious point to stop reading the remaining 50+ verses, which are the curses. That's a dangerous practice. God never changes, and these passages reflect the nature of God. The unread side of history teaches us of the penalties of engaging in evil. Now, of course, we are blessed to live under a different covenant, but the same God. He disciplines us, not because He wants to be evil toward lesser beings. In truth, just like for His chosen people, He wants all of us to reach our fullest potential. And to do that, we have to avoid evil things. Resisting evil requires a heart shaping. The commands of the Old Testament are like emergency triage measures to get the heart in the right place. But as New Covenant people, we have the teachings of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, particularly found in chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew in the New Testament. Through Jesus, they don't eliminate God's Old Covenant, but fulfill them. In our modern days, Jesus' teaching and His indwelling Holy Spirit make it possible for us to maximize the blessings and minimize the curses. Prayer: We submit our wills to Your purpose Lord our God, knowing that You want only the very best for us. In You we trust, Amen. Comments are closed.
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